Research California

Historical Resources and Information

California, the Golden State, has a history unrivaled in texture and complexity. This section of LearnCalifornia.org developed and maintained by the staff of the California State Archives, is the place for anyone—from scholars to people just interested in a good story—to find online resources and information about the state’s history. No single organization contains everything a researcher might want to know, so we will connect you with the holdings of the State Archives as well as other institutions to ensure you have access to the most appropriate and authoritative sources available.
We’ll also present good historical writing on leading subjects, to give the researcher or the teacher reliable secondary resources that can be trusted and which represent current interpretations. Many significant subjects are only briefly covered in popular secondary historical literature or are omitted altogether. This is regrettable, and we hope that the narrative information on this site will come to be regarded as an important contribution to the literature of California.